Little Orphan Applebloom
by FantasyWolf124
Summary: This is a MLP FIM of Little Orphan Annie. Applebloom was left in an orphanage by her parents promising to come back to get her. Discord needs to improve his image with the pony folk. So he invites Applebloom to stay at his house for Hearth's Warming. He didn't realize the dramatic change the little filly would have on his heart. Contains Fluttercord and some Applespike.
1. Little Orphan Applebloom

**This story is a MLP FIM version of little orphan annie. I got the idea from reading _A Midsummer Night's Dream: Pony-Style _by CartoonNerd12, _Shakesppony: Twelfth Night _by _DisneyFanatic2364, _and _The Taste of Pomegranat_e by _FanofC_artoons. This is my first fanfic written on here and I really hope ya'll like it. I got this idea and I got so excited that I couldn't stop writing till this was done. Enjoy!**

"It's snowing! It's snowing!" Sweetiesbelle screamed as she raced towards the window, swinging it open to get a better look. Her white coat blended in with the snow as the little unicorn buried her face in the cold, wet fluffiness that landed on the window sill, covering her white and purple hair. Racing in after her was a little orange pegasus with purple pixie cut hair.

"Alright! Finally we can have some fun around here!" she screamed as she also buried her face in the snow.

"Hey Applebloom! Come here and look at the snow!" Scootaloo called. Sitting on one of the bunk beds was a yellow earth pony with red hair and a big pink bow.

"Comin!" she called with a thick southern accent. Placing a piece of paper under her pillow, she raced towards the window to join her friends as they looked at the fresh snow that was covering the town.

Ponyville was busy this season. Hearth's Warming was coming soon and everyone was bustling about putting up decorations, buying presents and trees, and playing around in the fresh snow. The three little filly's hearts sped and warmed up at the thought of Hearth's Warming, but sank as they looked back in their room. Every year, they forget for one moment that they were here.

The orphanage where they were was falling apart. Inside was dull and gray as they took in there worn bunk beds and gray walls. They only reason they knew the snow was coming was because of the lack of heat. All three fillies sighed as the realization hit them.

"Maybe Mrs. Chrysalis will get us a tree this year." Sweetiebelle offered unconvincingly.

"Yeah, and pigs will fly." Scootaloo retorted back.

Applebloom sunk her head and went back to her bed and pulled out the note that was under her pillow. "Maybe this year, my parents will come and get me." She said hopefully.

"Like that will ever happen." Said a snide remark across the room.

Applebloom groaned as she turned towards the fillies coming toward her. The one who made the comment was a pink earth pony with purple and white hair and a tiara on her head to match her cutie mark. She was accompanied by a gray earth pony with light blue glasses, white hair in a braid over her shoulder and a silver spoon cutie mark.

"Of course it'll happen!" Applebloom replied angrily. "My parents promised me in this note that they'd come back ferr me."

"And yet here you are. Face it Applebloom, you're an orphan just like the rest of us. Your parents didn't want you and they threw you away." Diamond Tiara retorted.

"Yeah, and who would want to adopt a blank flank anyway." Silver Spoon taunted.

"Hey, leave her alone!" Shouted a filly across the room. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon stopped laughing as they looked toward the little earth pony coming toward them. She stomped over to them and stood firmly in front of Applebloom protectively. The two took in the light brown filly with short red hair, coming down slightly over her eye that she had to blow away. They cringed as the filly towered over them; her freckles making her glare even more intimidating. The little earth fillies screamed as they ran from the room.

Applebloom came around her and nudged her shoulder in thank. "Thanks Babs."

"Hey, don't mention it." Babs Seed replied in her heavy Manehattan accent. "Those two always get on my nerves. It's good to have and excuse to intimidate them." She replied with a side grin.

Applebloom smiled with her, but then frowned again as she looked at the letter. What if they were right? This was written when she was only a baby. She's 10 now and they still haven't come to take her away from this horrible place. What if they really did just abandon her and only wrote this outta guilt? What if they forgot her? What if…..?

Sensing her distress, Sweetiebelle and Scootloo walked over to they're friend. "Hey Applebloom, can you read us your letter again?" Scootaloo asked.

"Yea, your letter always makes me feel happy when I hear it." Sweetiebelle put in.

Applebloom smiled at her friends, being grateful that they wanted to cheer her up. Just that thought alone made her feel better. The three fillies along with Babs went over to the bunk beds and gathered around Applebloom as she read her letter that she knew by heart.

_'Please take care of our little darling. Her name is Applebloom. We will be back to get her soon. We have left half of a silver locket around her neck and kept the other half, so that when we come back to get her, you will know that she is our baby.'_

As she read it, Applebloom clutched the silver locket around her neck. She hasn't taken it off once and never will.

"Feel better?" Babs Seed asked.

Applebloom nodded her head with a smile painted on her face, knowing she was lucky to had best friends like she has.

"What do you think they're like?" Scootaloo asked excitedly.

"I don't know. Maybe on a nice mornin, he pours her a nice cup of coffee while she straightins his tie, right before he goes to work." Applebloom thought with a content sigh.

"Oooh! I bet your parents are young and artistic, like, they play piano or collect art!" Sweetiebelle chimed in; getting excited just thinking about it.

"Well, whatever they're like, I bet they're wonderful." Babs inquired with conviction.

Applebloom looked at the clocked as it struck 9 o'clock. "Uh-oh, we best be gettn asleep. Mrs. Chrysalis will have us scrubbin the whole house with our toothbrushes if we don't get to bed." At that thought alone, they scrambled into they're beds. Applebloom gave her letter one last look before she tucked it lovingly under her pillow. Resting her head of the pillow, the little earth pony drifted off to sleep as she gazed at the falling snow outside.

Over in Canterlot, stood a big white mansion. Lights lit up the household as sun set. All was quiet, except for a yellow pegasus flying around the mansion in search for the owner of the household.

"Oh, where could he have gone off to?" She whispered to herself worriedly; her long pink hair swishing back and forth as she searched the place frantically. She flew around the house, searching every room, leaving no stone unturned until she found who she was looking for.

She almost went by a closed door when she heard a crash coming from behind the door. She looked at it questioningly. This wasn't here before. She opened the door hesitantly and peered inside. She squeaked in surprise as she surveyed the room before her. She felt like she was outside as she flew into the room and onto the indoor baseball field. It didn't make sense, but for the Lord of Chaos, anything was possible. Speaking of which, the little pegasus squeaked in fright as she heard another whack. She looked toward the source as she saw the Lord of Chaos himself hitting a ball. The creature looked like nothing you've ever seen. With the head of a horse-like pony, a deer antler on the right, a goat horn of the left, one long fang, different sized pupils, a snake tongue, a horse mane, and a goat beard. The rest of his body consists of the right paw of a lion, the left claw of an eagle, the right leg of a lizard, the left hoof of a goat, the right wing of a bat, the left wing of a pegasus, and a dragon-like snake tail with a white tail tuft. To anyone who didn't know him, he would've scared anypony from the room, but the little pegasus didn't even flinch.

"Discord! We need to talk!" she barked as she flew over to the draconequus.

Discord lit up as the pegasus flew over to him. "Flutteryshy! You're just in time. I just hit my second home run and I'm about to hit my third." He explained as he prepared for another swing.

Throwing the pitch was another Discord. Throwing the ball, Discord hit his third homerun. Fluttershy squeaked in terror as she dodged the home run. As she gained her composure, she glared at Discord.

"Oops." He cringed. "Sorry." Snapping his fingers, the equipment disappeared along with the second Discord. Fluttershy flew down to him.

"Discord, I thought we agreed no more play rooms. You have enough, and your making more work for the housekeepers to clean up." She lectured.

"Oh lighten up Fluttershy. It's they're job. They get paid to clean up messes. Now come on and play a round with me. You can be my cheerleader." he explained absent mindlessly.

Fluttershy blushed at the thought. "Oh, I could never be a cheerleader…." She whispered in embarrassment.

"Nonsense! You'd be the cutest cheerleader. Now come on, one more round?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"No, I came to talk to you. We have a serious matter to discuss. The newspaper caught you pranking someone again!" She stated disapprovingly.

"Oh, is this about the tomatoes I made rain down in the park?" he asked annoyingly.

"No."

"The time I turned ponies hair into cotton candy?"

"No."

"The ice sculptures I made into pudding?"

"No….?"

"Turning sunscreen into sugar water so ponies are invaded by ants?"

"How many pranks have you pulled?"

"Or how about…."

"DISCORD!" Fluttershy screamed, interrupting his next sentence.

"Oh relax, it'll all blow over in no time." Waving it off.

"Discord, you have to stop pranking ponies. If this continues, Princess Celestia will notice and turn you back into stone. You have to clean up your act or no pony will ever come to you for help."

Discord groaned in annoyance. Ever since he was released from his stone prison, he made a deal with Princess Celestia that he would only use his chaos for good. Helping ponies in need. But as his pranking continued, ponies stopped showing up less and less for help, and it was starting to show. But who cares, the only reason he did this was to make sure he didn't get imprisoned in stone again.

He glanced over at the yellow pegasus hovering over his, her bright teal eyes glaring at him. That, and the company that he has. Fluttershy was the first to befriend him and promised Princess Celestia that she would keep watch over him. She was the only reason that he didn't go overboard with his chaos, at least not as over the top as a normal draconequus could make.

Groaning in defeat, he turned to Fluttershy. "Fine, I'll tone down my pranking." He promised through his teeth.

"Tone down?" she questioned.

"No promises." He retorted back.

"That's not going to be enough. You need to do something to make the ponies see that you are reformed and that they can come to you." She explained, mentally thinking of plan.

"So what should I do, then?"

She pondered for a bit before she came up with an idea. "Fillies! Everypony loves fillies. We can go to an orphanage and have all the children spend Hearth's Warming here. That would definitely show them how kind you really are." She explained.

"Oh no! I'm not going to spend my Hearth's Warming with a bunch of little brats swarming my house!" he argued back.

"Ok…..then how about one? Just one should be enough."

He looked away in defiance, but Fluttershy would have none of that.

"Discord….." she warned.

Sweet Celestia, if only she wasn't so enticing when she was angry. Fluttershy was the only one he would bow his head to. Discord through his arms up in defeat. "Alright fine! But after the holiday, that little urchin is going back to where it came from!"

**I hope ya'll enjoy this. I'll put more up upon reviews. I put Applebloom as Annie because other than the red hair, she loves family more than any filly. I put Discord as Warbucks and Fluttershy as the secretary because, not only did I want to do some Fluttercord, I really thought they would fit the roles the most. Please review!**


	2. It's A Hard Knock Life

The bright sun beat down on Applebloom as she ran through the grassy fields of Ponyville. As she kept running, she stumbles upon on a hill. Determination coursed through her as she sped up her speed to reach the top without stopping. Reaching the top, almost out of breath, she looked down at the cozy little cottage hidden behind it. In front of the quaint little cottage stood two pale yellow earth ponies, sadly though, she could not see they're faces. They lifted they're hooves toward Applebloom, calling her down.

Those were her parents calling her down. She knew it. She bolted down the hill, determined to get to them so she could look upon their faces as she gives them a warm embrace. She started drawing closer and closer to them, but the edges of her reality started to blur. So were the cottage and the two earth ponies in front of it. She knew what was coming, but she kept going, determined to get to them. Just as she was about to reach them, she heard the normal wake up call.

"WAKE UP, YOU LITTLE URCHANS!" the voice boomed.

Applebloom woke up with a start at the booming voice, a heavy weight settling on her chest. She's had that same dream, ever since she could remember. It feels like she draws closer and closer every time she has it, but in the end, she never reaches them. She looks towards the voice that disturbed her wonderful dream. Standing in the doorway was a pony with an appearance of an alicorn, but instead has a black body, green-blue mane, sharp fangs, and holes all over her legs and wings. She was a truly a scary sight, and we had the unfortunate luck to have her as our caretaker. Mrs. Chrysalis was the owner of the orphanage, but she was anything but caring. She tortured us. We always cleaned, we barely ate, and she bullied us until we were adopted by some pony.

See, Mrs. Chrysalis was a changeling, and changelings fed off of love. When ponies come in here to adopt, all kinds of love come off of them. That's basically the only reason she has an orphanage. And I can tell you right now, it stinks.

"But it's 4 in the morning." Scootaloo whined as she sat up from her bed.

"Like I care. Inspectors are coming later today to come and check up here and I'm going to make sure that they walk out of here with no problems whatsoever, so you orphans are going to clean this dump until it shines like the Canterlot Castle." She roared.

Everyone in the room groaned as she started walking out of the room. Turning her head, she yells, "NOW!"

Cringing, the fillies jump out of their bed, responding to a simple "Yes, Mrs. Chrysalis." Satisfied that it was going to get done, she walks out of the room.

Giving another, but silent groan, the fillies hopped to work, pulling out the mandatory buckets that they kept under their beds. Filled with soap and water, everyone started getting to work on cleaning the building

Groaning in frustration, Scootaloo throws her scrub brush in her bucket. "This stinks! Why do we have to live through this torture?!" She complains.

"Because we have nowhere else to go and we'd end up starving on the streets?" Sweetiebelle answer's matter-of-factually.

"Even so, we shouldn't have to live through this! Instead of getting kisses and hugs, we get kicked in the rump. We go hungry instead of having full bellies, and everything around here is so cheap! I mean, look at this." Scootaloo heads on over to the beds. "Our blankets are cotton instead of wool. Doesn't she realize how cold it gets in here and that we're gonna catch our deaths?"

"Like she cares. And it's not like we can do anything. It's better to just go along with it instead of fighting her on it. She's just gonna make our lives more miserable if we do." Diamond Tiara included in.

"Well, the starving streets are looking a lot better than here. We're already cold and hungry here, the only difference is that on the streets we wouldn't have to go follow any rules." Concluded Babs Seed.

Applebloom stayed silent in the corner. She still couldn't help but still feel depressed over the loss her dream. How long are her parents going to make her wait and live through this torture?

Hours passed before the orphanage looked presentable. They scrubbed down every single bit of the place till they were determined that Mrs. Chrysalis would give it a pass and finally feed them some breakfast. After giving the house a close inspection, making sure that every single speck of dust was taken care of, only then did she allow the little orphans something to eat, although it wasn't much of a breakfast, only containing a hoof full of stale oats, but the fillies ate it without complaint, knowing that they weren't going to have anything more to eat for a while.

Chewing down the last of the stale breakfast, Mrs. Chrysalis ordered them to gather they're sheets and pillow cases to swap them out for clean ones, having a laundry pony come to take away their dirty sheets.

As Applebloom started clearing away the sheets, she got a wonderful idea.

"That's it!" she yelled.

"What's it?" Sweetiebelle called over.

"I'll escape through the dirty clothes when the laundry pony comes!" She yells, excitement filling her voice.

The room groaned in unison.

"Oh Celestia." Diamond Tiara moaned.

"Not again." Silver Spoon joined in.

"Applebloom, we wanna get out of here just as much as you do, but every time you have one of your escape plans, it always fails." Scootaloo replied hesitantly.

"And besides, whenever Mrs. Chrysalis catches you, she punishes all of us." Babs Seed put in.

"But it's gonna work this time. I know it! Besides, I got my parents out there, and I'm gonna find them! I can't wait any longer!" Applebloom stomped her hoof in emphasis.

The fillies eyed each other, but kept didn't say anything more on the issue. Applebloom had a reputation of always trying to escape. Heck, they all did at one time or another. But they gave up after a while. But seeing as Applebloom was determined to be reunited with her family, she never gave up. The others got used to her escape plans and just waited until she either succeeds, or Mrs. Chrysalis dragged her back and punished the rest of them along with her.

Putting the sheets and pillow cases in the hamper, a light blue unicorn stallion with brown hair and a hamper cutie mark walked in. "Good morning kids!" he greeted cheerily.

"Good morning, Mr. Bundle!" the kids replied happily. Receiving kindness from very few ponies, Mr. Bundle was like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. He always greeted the girls with a smile on his face.

Using a levitation spell, he brings in new sets of sheets and pillow cases for the children. Excited for clean sheets, the fillies surrounded Mr. Bundle to get their new sheets, grabbing and snatching them excitingly, running away to put them on their beds. A little disheveled from the rampaging children, Mr. Bundles latches the cart to him and prepares himself to depart.

Seeing this as her chance, Applebloom sneaks up to the cart and hops up, trying to get her in the hamper. Just as she was about to give up, Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle, come up behind her and give her a lift up. As Applebloom lands on the dirty sheets, she looks down at her friends in question.

"When you find your parents, don't forget to come back for us." Sweetiebelle whispered, tears swelling up in her eyes. Also tearing up, Applebloom reaches down her hooves to her two best friends, touching their hooves in turn.

"I promise, once I find them, I'll get them to adopt all of us. I won't leave ya. Promise." She whispers back as Mr. Bundle starts walking away. As the hamper started rolling, Appleblooms gives the filly's one last smile before she hides herself under the sheets.

Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo give her friend one last wave. Even though Applebloom got caught every time she tried to escape, they always hoped on every escape, she didn't come back. Because if she did, they hoped she would come back to come get them all and be taken away from this awful place. Watching their best friend disappear down the street through their window, the girls finished putting the finishing touches onto their beds; Mrs. Chrysalis comes into the room to inspect their beds. Seeing nothing wrong, she turns to the children. But before she gets a word out, she notices the lack of a big pink bow.

"Where is Applebloom?" She asked with a hard edge in her voice.

The fillies were quiet, looking at anything but Mrs. Chrysalis.

"Mrs. Chrysalis, Applebloom isn't here." Silver Spoon answered.

"I am fully aware of that, which is why I asked where she is." She replies back, getting irritated.

"Mr. Bundle just wheeled her out with the dirty sheets." Diamond Tiara tattles.

Chrysalis looks out the window down the street the laundry pony went. She stares calmly down tthem, but turns back to walk out the door.

"She'll be back." She states with assurance.

Scootaloo, Sweetiebelle, and Babs Seed glare at the two fillies as Mrs. Chrysalis disappears around the corner.

"Oh, like she's not going to find out eventually." Diamond Tiara retorts as she starts on her daily chores.

**Hey guys! Here's chapter two! Sorry it isn't long, but the next one is going to be long, I guarantee it. Now, for the role of Mrs. Hannigan, I chose Chrysalis because honestly, there was no one else. All of the other villains were already given other roles, and I honestly felt guilty for giving one of the good characters from mlp the role of Mrs. Hannigan. But when I started giving myself reasons of why, I started to see the pieces lining up and started liking the idea. Thank you all so much for the reviews. My biggest fear was that no one would read or review, so thank you, it means a lot to me to have ya'lls support. Next week's chapter will be longer and more exciting, so stay tuned and review. Thank you! **


	3. The New Companion

***Peeks out from behind a trashcan* Before you start throwing stuff, I can explain! So please! Put down your weapons! *Steps out* Ok everybody, as you can see I'm back. I'm sorry I was gone for so long, but I wanna explain. To those who were wondering, I didn't abandon this story. I give you my Pinkie Promise that I would let ya'll know if I was so your not constantly looking this up. Now, for why I was late. For the first week, I was moving and the second week I was unpacking. No time what-so-ever to write. The other times, no internet. I wanted to get it, but I'm living with two other people and I couldn't get it without they're opinion. BUT! I'm back! And I hope I can upload on a weekly basis. I'm sorry for leaving ya in the dark, and thank you for the people who stood by and waited patiently. Thank you all!**

Hiding beneath a bunch of dirty laundry wasn't as easy as it sounded. It smelled bad and the fact that she got this far without being caught was making her even more anxious than ever to jump out, but she stayed still. She wanted to make sure she was as far away from that horrible place as possible.

When she was sure she was far enough away, she peeked through the dirty laundry to look around. Seeing the coast clear, she hopped out and ran for the nearest hiding place she could find; a shrub. She looked at Mr. Bundles when she noticed the cart stop. He looked at the cart, wondering why it seemed lighter all of a sudden. When it looked like nothing changed, he shrugged his shoulders and continued on his way. Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked at her surroundings. It…..it was amazing.

It was so colorful here. The straw roofed houses had purple shutters and surrounded with flowers. From what it looked like, she was in the middle of town square. She craned her neck to look at the top of the tower in the middle of the square. It looked like it was falling apart, but other than that; it was more amazing than anything else she has seen in her lifetime. She looked at all of the ponies surrounding her. They all just looked so happy, like there was nothing that could dampen their day.

There was definitely nothing that could dampen his day; Discord thought has he gazed down at Ponyville on his cotton candy cloud. He decided to come to Ponyville because he was grabbing such a bad reputation in Canterlot that he wanted to do his pranking in a new place. Someplace where he can play around with ponies that wouldn't have a clue they were being pranked by him. Plus, it was far enough away where Fluttershy won't know that he was doing it. Besides, she was too busy with her animals to pay attention he thought sourly.

Shaking his head to clear away thoughts, he looked down at the ponies below to look for a target. Scanning the crowd of ponies, he spotted his victim. Making his hands into a pair of binoculars, he gave himself a close-up into the window of a cottage and saw a pale yellow earth pony with dark blue and pink curls watering her flowers.

"Oooo! Perfect!" he exclaimed excitedly to himself. With a mischievous grin, he snaps his claw.

As the earth pony continued to water her plants, one of them shrunk down into the dirt. Dropping the water pale she was using, she stared at the potted plant, wondering, what just happened. Picking up the pale hesitantly, she continued to water the plants. But now, all of the plants shrank down into the soil. She gasped in surprised as she once again dropped the pale. Hesitantly, she peered into the soil when all of a sudden the flower popped right back out of the soil. Opening their petals, the flowers then squirted water right into the pony's face, making her run from her house screaming.

Putting down his hand made binoculars, Discord landed on his back on his cotton candy cloud, bawling with laughter. Oh how he loved pranking new victims. He always had to find some new place every couple of pranks or it'd definitely get too boring. After his fit of laughter, Discord wiped tears from his eyes as he looked down on Ponyville for more victims.

As the hours went by, his pranking became more elaborate and more obvious. Discord started to get bored as he realized that the ponies are getting harder and harder to prank. Groaning in annoyance, he looked around for a new source of entertainment. Near the edge of Ponyville was a sign with the warning 'Danger' pointing toward the forest.

"Psh, please. Like there's anything in there that could scare me." He commented to himself. Finding his new source of entertainment, Discord flew down into the Everfree Forest.

"Now where should I start?" Applebloom wondered to herself. She was out and was excited, but she was so focused on getting out of that orphanage and finding her parents, that she never realized what she was going to do for food and shelter. As her mood started to damper, she shook her head. No. She can't start thinking that. She's finally out of that terrible orphanage and can start finding her parents. She can think about the other stuff later, right now she needs to start finding her family. As she thought of this, her stomach started to rumble.

She'll start, after she finds something to eat.

Looking around, she tried to find somewhere to eat. But as she went to each store, she looked at the prices and just felt more depressed. Even though it was futile, she kept trying to find somewhere to eat. As her bow kept drooping and drooping as her mood dropped, she spotted a small stand outside of a cute little store called Sugar Cube Corner. But that isn't what caught her eye and made her bow straightened. Written under the sign, it read 'Free Samples'. Hopping up and down it excitement, she ran over to the stand, being first in line.

Behind the stand was a pink earth pony with poufy dark pink hair. As she was about to ask for a mini cupcake, the pony beat her to the punch.

"Hi there! Welcome to the Sugar Cube Corner Free Sample Stand. Just choose any sample! We have all kinds of cupcakes here. We have chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, red velvet, pumpkin, cherry, blueberry, apple, coconut, banana but I think you should try the chocolate. OOOO! No, try the banana! Wait! No no! Try the chocolate! Or both! Have you tried both flavors at once? It's delicious! Oh! I think you should try….."

"APPLE!" Applebloom screamed before the earth pony could speak again.

Clearing her throat, Applebloom repeated, "Apple please."

Nodding her head in enthusiasm, the pink earth pony handed her the apple cupcake. As she held the cupcake in her hoof, she gazed at it like it was the most glorious piece of food in all of Equestria. As she was about to take a bite, she gets bumped in the back, making her drop her cupcake on the ground. She stared at the destroyed cupcake in horror as her eyes started to tear up and just as she was about to cry, she got mad instead.

"Ya made me drop ma' cupcake!" she yelled as she jerked her body around to stare at the pony that made her drop her cupcake. Except when she turned around, it wasn't a pony she was looking at, but a purple and green dragon. And a baby one at that!

He was lying on the ground clutching his head in pain. He was a small dragon, probably Applebloom's height, with a green belly and scales. At her voice, the dragon looked up at Applebloom with his emerald eyes. They stared at each other for a moment before a voice behind them shouted.

"Stop that dragon! He's a thief! Stop him!" the voice yelled.

Cringing at the voice behind him, the baby dragon quickly got up, grabbed Applebloom's hoof and dragged her behind him.

"Come on!" he yelled as he started to run.

"Wai-!" Applebloom started, but before she could protest, she was dragged along with the small dragon.

The pink earth pony watched them run off towards the direction of the Everfree Forest.

"I can't believe it! How could this have happened! I didn't think it could happen! I just can't believe it!" the teary eyed earth pony whined as she knelt to the ground.

"She dropped a perfectly good cupcake!" she screamed to air.

Finally stopping after they realized they lost they're pursuer, Applebloom and the unknown dragon stopped to catch they're breath. But all that running didn't stop her from yelling at the stranger.

"Now why did ya do that! Now everypony is gonna think I'm a thief too! And on top of that, ya made me drop ma cupcake! Who are you and why did ya drag me along!?" Applebloom raged.

The dragon shuffled in place. "I'm sorry, it was a reflex. I didn't mean to drag you along with me. I'll get you another cupcake to make it up to you though!" he offered.

"I don't want a stolen cupcake!" she replied angrily.

"I'm not a thief! This was all a misunderstanding!" he shot back at her.

"Oh ya? Then what's your tail hold'n?" she asked as she pointed to the dragon's tail. The dragon turned around to look at the apple his tail was clutching.

"I didn't mean to steal it!" he whined as he took the apple from his tail. "Look, dragons have….a grabby nature. It wasn't me. My tail did it. I've been trying to keep myself from grabbing things, but sometimes my tail has other ideas. I was just looking at the stall when that pony called me a thief. Next thing I know, I'm running away." He explained sincerely. Turning to Applebloom, he stared hard at her. "I know it's in a dragon's nature to hoard, but I'm trying not to. That's not me. I am not a thief!" he cried angrily.

Applebloom wanted to role her eyes and not believe him, but the seriousness in his explanation made her keep it too herself. Plus, she doesn't even know much about dragons in the first place. How was she to know if he was telling the truth or not. Spitting out a sigh of defeat, she held out her hoof to him. "Well, what's done is done. Can't do nothing bout it now. I'm Applebloom." She introduced.

The dragon looked at her hoof wearily, but took her hoof in his claw. "I'm Spike."

"Now that I think bout it, what's a dragon doin in Ponyville?" she inquired.

"I'm just running a few errands for somepony." He answered. She waited for him to elaborate, but it was clear he wasn't. About to ask for more, she was interrupted by the growling of her stomach.

Hearing her stomach and watching her embarrassment, Spike held out the stolen apple. "You can have the apple if you like."

She didn't want to take something that was stolen, but she was so hungry she didn't think she could hold out much longer. Misreading her hesitation, Spike just stated, "I prefer gems."

Raising her eyebrow in question, she took the apple from his outstretched claw. Hesitating for only a moment, she bit into the apple. Applebloom groaned in pleasure. Oh Celestia, nothing tasted so good. Enjoying her apple, she looked at Spike. "Gems?"

"Oh yea, dragons eat gems. They're really delicious. Each gem has its own flavor. My favorite is rubies. We can eat pony food too, but I prefer gems." He explained.

"Doesn't it upset yer stomach?" she asked as she swallowed the rest of the apple.

"Nope. Dragon's stomachs are tough. We can eat anything really. Plus we-"stopping short, Spike looked around at his surroundings, only to gasp in horror.

Applebloom mirrored his face as she also noticed where they were. Even though it was sunny out, the surrounding trees around them made it seem like it was dark. No noise was being made, which made the forest feel even creepier. Without noticing, they both huddled together.

"I can't believe I dragged us into the Everfree Forest." Spike voiced in terror.

"The Everfree Forest?" Applebloom questioned.

"It's dark and scary, and its inhabited by fearsome creatures. Timberwolves, Manticores, Cocatrices-"

"Stop! I don't wanna hear no more!" Applebloom screamed in terror.

But they didn't have to. Something moved in the bushes near them. They stared at it in horror as they're imaginations ran wild of what was going to come out of there.

**Now to explain this chapter's character update. For this chapter, I have Spike playing Sandy. I know what your thinking 'why didn't you use Winona?' And at first I was. But, that was pretty predictable. So as I thought, I realized that having Spike as Sandy would be a lot more interesting. Plus, I would like to see what kind of story this will give me with Applebloom and Spike together. I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter and again, I want to apologize for the lack of update. Thank you for staying tuned!**


End file.
